While on the trip, we asked Pastor Tom if we could have a Sunday to share our trip with the congregation. So many had prayed for us and also what other opportunity would we have to show so many exactly what this trip had meant to us. Also, it was just this type of sharing years ago that had sparked my desire to experience a mission trip myself.
We decided that we would spend the entire service the following Sunday sharing pictures and memories of the trip at both services. We each shared a different aspect and Tom Smith did a great job of putting a montage of pictures together of the entire week.
At first I wondered if I could capture the emotion and meaning of the trip even after a week, but as soon as I saw the first picture the tears came again and finding the words to convey the passion was not a problem.
So what did I learn?
1. I learned that no matter why you think you're going on a mission trip, God usually has something totally different in mind for you. I really thought I was going to be a big help and blessing to these people, but found that I was the one who had been so richly blessed and barely lifted a finger. I still don't know why God chose me to go on this trip. I may never know this side of heaven. I just know I was called and I answered the call and I'm so grateful that I did.
2. No matter where you go, be prepared to leave a large piece of your heart when it comes time to go. You will be touched in ways that you cannot even being to imagine. When you are linked to others through a shared love for Christ you begin any relationship at a deeper level right from the start. God's people connect heart to heart and soul to soul when Christ is their focus.
3. And this is the sweetest one. I'm so grateful for the promise of eternal life for those who put their faith in Christ. I'm grateful because I may never get back to Suriname, but I will see each of these sisters and brothers when we meet again in heaven.
Would I do it again......? Absolutely. Can't wait and hope to make a trip to Africa soon. Stay tuned!
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Sense of Humor is Key! God sure has one....
Americans are spoiled when it comes to airports. We're used to having everything we need available 24/7 and we just take it for granted that every place is like that. Little did we know.
While the airport building in Suriname is open when we arrive at 2:00 AM, the gate for Carribean Airlines does not open for check in until almost 3:00 AM. When the attendant did finally arrive it was so comical because she had to manually change all of the overhead signs for the gate, set up all of the tags, desk paperwork and everything before she could check us in. It was like setting up for the first time and they do that every day. In the meantime, we sat/stood right in front of her with all this luggage just waiting for her to be ready. She wouldn't even look at us or acknowledge us. Course by this time we've been up since 6:00 AM and we're looking just a little scary anyway so you can't really blame her.
We finally get checked through her, customs, security and such and then we get to wait again. Hard chairs, nothing open to look at, dark so you can't see outside and we're all exhausted. Boarding begins about 5:30 to Trinidad and thankfully an uneventful flight for the first leg, although by this time my poor butt is so sore from sitting in hard seats. I need something cushy to sit on.
So we get to Trinidad and that's where everything begins to unravel. This is where a sense of humor REALLY comes in handy. At check in we are told that our flight to Miami has been cancelled. My first thought is the hurricane, (which by Sunday afternoon had disipated). Oh no, nothing that simple. We are told that the flight crew just didn't show up and they didn't have another one to fly the plane! This begins about a 2 hour saga of running from desk to gate to line as they try to figure out what to do with us. We are dead tired and holding onto our sanity by a thread. They finally book us on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale leaving at 2:00 PM then are gracious enough to take us to a nearby hotel to try and rest and get something to eat.
I couldn't bear to sit in one more chair so I head straight to our room and lay down asking Tracy to bring be back anything that looks edible. I am numb and so tired that I can't even sleep. I ache all over and though I never slept it sure felt good to lay down.
At 12:15 we're back at the airport for our flight home. This time our crew shows up (YEAH!) and we're off to the USA. It's a four hour flight and it was broken up some by the movie "Get Smart" which was a nice diversion. In flight we are told that when we get to Ft. Lauderdale they will shuttle us to the Miami airport where our van is. Most of us breeze through customs, Tracey got grilled and Cody was the only one to get pulled into the little room to be questioned and have his luggage searched.
We arrive at the Miami airport and are praising God that the van is still there and still has all four tires! We load up, stop at a nearby McDonalds for a quick bite and begin the 4.5 hour drive to St. Pete. The ride was brutal because we are all so tired and I'm worried about Pastor Tom driving since he's had less sleep than any of us, but he's caught his second wind and drove the entire way. It's the longest drive I can remember in years. The sight of the Skyway bridge brought tears to my eyes. Home was in sight. Since our house is right over the bridge, they drop Rand and I off at our house and it's over. Home sweet home! Rufio goes crazy wimpering and licking my face over and over. Bruce took Rand to meet MB at the YMCA so I did some unpacking and hit the hay as soon as he returned.
At that moment, we had been up 42 hours straight. What an awesome trip. God is SO good. Night.......ZZZZZZZZZZZ
While the airport building in Suriname is open when we arrive at 2:00 AM, the gate for Carribean Airlines does not open for check in until almost 3:00 AM. When the attendant did finally arrive it was so comical because she had to manually change all of the overhead signs for the gate, set up all of the tags, desk paperwork and everything before she could check us in. It was like setting up for the first time and they do that every day. In the meantime, we sat/stood right in front of her with all this luggage just waiting for her to be ready. She wouldn't even look at us or acknowledge us. Course by this time we've been up since 6:00 AM and we're looking just a little scary anyway so you can't really blame her.
We finally get checked through her, customs, security and such and then we get to wait again. Hard chairs, nothing open to look at, dark so you can't see outside and we're all exhausted. Boarding begins about 5:30 to Trinidad and thankfully an uneventful flight for the first leg, although by this time my poor butt is so sore from sitting in hard seats. I need something cushy to sit on.
So we get to Trinidad and that's where everything begins to unravel. This is where a sense of humor REALLY comes in handy. At check in we are told that our flight to Miami has been cancelled. My first thought is the hurricane, (which by Sunday afternoon had disipated). Oh no, nothing that simple. We are told that the flight crew just didn't show up and they didn't have another one to fly the plane! This begins about a 2 hour saga of running from desk to gate to line as they try to figure out what to do with us. We are dead tired and holding onto our sanity by a thread. They finally book us on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale leaving at 2:00 PM then are gracious enough to take us to a nearby hotel to try and rest and get something to eat.
I couldn't bear to sit in one more chair so I head straight to our room and lay down asking Tracy to bring be back anything that looks edible. I am numb and so tired that I can't even sleep. I ache all over and though I never slept it sure felt good to lay down.
At 12:15 we're back at the airport for our flight home. This time our crew shows up (YEAH!) and we're off to the USA. It's a four hour flight and it was broken up some by the movie "Get Smart" which was a nice diversion. In flight we are told that when we get to Ft. Lauderdale they will shuttle us to the Miami airport where our van is. Most of us breeze through customs, Tracey got grilled and Cody was the only one to get pulled into the little room to be questioned and have his luggage searched.
We arrive at the Miami airport and are praising God that the van is still there and still has all four tires! We load up, stop at a nearby McDonalds for a quick bite and begin the 4.5 hour drive to St. Pete. The ride was brutal because we are all so tired and I'm worried about Pastor Tom driving since he's had less sleep than any of us, but he's caught his second wind and drove the entire way. It's the longest drive I can remember in years. The sight of the Skyway bridge brought tears to my eyes. Home was in sight. Since our house is right over the bridge, they drop Rand and I off at our house and it's over. Home sweet home! Rufio goes crazy wimpering and licking my face over and over. Bruce took Rand to meet MB at the YMCA so I did some unpacking and hit the hay as soon as he returned.
At that moment, we had been up 42 hours straight. What an awesome trip. God is SO good. Night.......ZZZZZZZZZZZ
The Longest Day Continues
Church. It's amazing how different churches are. As different as people I guess. Our church service this morning starts with singing and greeting each other as we sing. We sang and walked around shaking hands and hugging all over the sanctuary. The singing was loud and free and open and wonderful. Sure puts our church to shame. Big Roy is funny singing and waving his arms above his head. I will miss watching him when we leave. The tears are already welling up in my eyes as I think about leaving this place.
As the service starts, our team is recognized as well as the Indian tribes that have traveled from the interior for the conference. We laugh as we see that Cody and Tom have joined the praise band for this morning. Of course, we can't see Cody because he's behind the banner and all we can see are his legs! They did a great job though and how sweet to be able to be a part of the service.
When the sermon starts Kathy, Tracey and I leave and go downstairs to help with the children's class. There is only one Sunday school class for the kids so we have them from four to high school. Our lesson is about heaven and how Jesus will one day return. We tied yellow ribbons around all of the posts and had the children write signs saying "Jesus is coming!". Some of the signs were remarkable in their detail and we posted the signs among the ribbons. It was a great morning and we really enjoyed ourselves. You know kids are kids no matter what country you're in.
After church we had lunch at the Smits, just left overs. We checked our emails and I warned Bruce about the possibility of the hurricane delaying our trip home. Shared several prayer requests with both him and my sisters. We headed back to Peggy's to rest and pack before the night session, but neither of us could sleep. I kept thinking about having to say good-by and would begin to tear up. I finally got up and called Bruce and was able to get through and talk to him. I felt much better after hearing his voice and just being able to share my concerns about the trip home with him. He didn't think the storm was going to be an issue and I can't tell you how great that made me feel.
I showered and did some packing then back to church for our final session of the conference. For this last night, the Indian tribes led the praise and worship and that place was rockin'! It killed me not to know the words to sing along but I could sure clap and smile. It was AWESOME! Perry and Pastor Tom did these last two sessions and then it was over. What a powerful conference. But now we had to say good-by. Hugging and crying I made my rounds of these new friends. It was excruciating. In just 8 short days these people have become so precious to me. I pray we don't have to wait until heaven to see each other again.
With the conference over the team and all of the hosts board Imro's bus and head to the new Burger King to have a quick bite to eat. We all sat around talking, laughing, hating to see this week come to it's end. Then back to Imro and Linda's to head off to our hosts' homes to finish packing and prepare to head to the airport. Imro would be picking us up at Peggy's around 1:00 AM to leave for the airport where we would wait till our flight at 5:30 AM.
At Peggy's we finished our packing, hauled everything back downstairs and then hung out in Peggy's room and talked till Imro arrived. It's funny but when it finally came time to tell Peggy good-by I didn't cry. I really thought I would be a faucet, but we hugged and said our good-byes without a tear. What a precious host she has been this week to Tracey and I. Sure has been different than anything I had imagined.
So back to the airport we head.
As the service starts, our team is recognized as well as the Indian tribes that have traveled from the interior for the conference. We laugh as we see that Cody and Tom have joined the praise band for this morning. Of course, we can't see Cody because he's behind the banner and all we can see are his legs! They did a great job though and how sweet to be able to be a part of the service.
When the sermon starts Kathy, Tracey and I leave and go downstairs to help with the children's class. There is only one Sunday school class for the kids so we have them from four to high school. Our lesson is about heaven and how Jesus will one day return. We tied yellow ribbons around all of the posts and had the children write signs saying "Jesus is coming!". Some of the signs were remarkable in their detail and we posted the signs among the ribbons. It was a great morning and we really enjoyed ourselves. You know kids are kids no matter what country you're in.
After church we had lunch at the Smits, just left overs. We checked our emails and I warned Bruce about the possibility of the hurricane delaying our trip home. Shared several prayer requests with both him and my sisters. We headed back to Peggy's to rest and pack before the night session, but neither of us could sleep. I kept thinking about having to say good-by and would begin to tear up. I finally got up and called Bruce and was able to get through and talk to him. I felt much better after hearing his voice and just being able to share my concerns about the trip home with him. He didn't think the storm was going to be an issue and I can't tell you how great that made me feel.
I showered and did some packing then back to church for our final session of the conference. For this last night, the Indian tribes led the praise and worship and that place was rockin'! It killed me not to know the words to sing along but I could sure clap and smile. It was AWESOME! Perry and Pastor Tom did these last two sessions and then it was over. What a powerful conference. But now we had to say good-by. Hugging and crying I made my rounds of these new friends. It was excruciating. In just 8 short days these people have become so precious to me. I pray we don't have to wait until heaven to see each other again.
With the conference over the team and all of the hosts board Imro's bus and head to the new Burger King to have a quick bite to eat. We all sat around talking, laughing, hating to see this week come to it's end. Then back to Imro and Linda's to head off to our hosts' homes to finish packing and prepare to head to the airport. Imro would be picking us up at Peggy's around 1:00 AM to leave for the airport where we would wait till our flight at 5:30 AM.
At Peggy's we finished our packing, hauled everything back downstairs and then hung out in Peggy's room and talked till Imro arrived. It's funny but when it finally came time to tell Peggy good-by I didn't cry. I really thought I would be a faucet, but we hugged and said our good-byes without a tear. What a precious host she has been this week to Tracey and I. Sure has been different than anything I had imagined.
So back to the airport we head.
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